More than a year ago I was laid off of my job, which meant that modeling time was spent job hunting, and finances were tight for things like supplies & kits.

Then I got a new (much better) job at a startup. That's even worse for hobby free time than job hunting. Plus I spend anywhere from an hour and a half to forever on CalTrain commuting to/from work daily.

Then things started to settle down as our company started doing better and better. I got a membership at Techshop, with the intention of using the facilities there (laser cutter! the mill & lathe that micro-mark sells!) to do more modeling. Instead I've been sidetracked with learning how to use huge bridgeport mills, big metal lathes, welding, electronics, aluminum casting, and all sorts of other very fun things that aren't really particularly miniature.

At this point things have come full circle and now I'm starting to get to the point where I'm getting good enough with a lot of my newly learned fabrication skills to do stuff on a fine enough scale for modeling. I'm planning on starting easy - turned metal gun barrels & the like. Eventually I hope to be able to do scratchbuilding & adding cool microprocessor controlled lighting effects.

Plus, even though I stopped building, for some odd reason I didn't stop buying kits. The kit stash has grown out of its containment area in the garage and is now spreading out into the home office. This infestation must be dealt with. Over the weekend I threw together a cheap kit - the AMT/Ertl small scale X-wing, and it's in my spray booth waiting for painting. I'll probably do that with some other cheap kits just to get back into the swing of things.

Welcome back Buck.

Greetings and glad your back.

Welcome Buck,

This is a great site. Help is just a click away if you ever need it.

Be sure to check out the campaigns. They are usually a lot of fun to participate in.

hi and welcome